Getting a Tattoo

[Zephos]

Hey guys, I know there's been heaps of threads like this on HL2.net but I figured I shan't necro.

Let me start off by saying I was never a man who wanted a tattoo. I despised the idea of it even going back a year or two ago. I enjoyed floating around ideas in my head of what one could get but it wasn't anything I took entirely seriously.

Anyway, lately I've been in a bit of a rough spot. Unsure of where my life is taking direction, not sure what I should do at university (I've spent 2 and a half years and been switching degrees every semester, and still no idea). So coincidentally at the forefront of my mind is always philosophies of how to approach my life. I feel sodden a lot of the time and nowadays I feel I take many, many things for granted. Which is why around half a year ago something spoke to me louder than usual when I was rewatching the movie Saving Private Ryan. It's the simple words that Miller states at the end to Ryan, where he says "Earn this." in reference to the sacrifices for his life, to earn his life. I felt this was a perfect way to approach things in my life. That I need to earn the right for good friends, family, the things one usually takes for granted. That to earn happiness one must sometimes make sacrifices. I feel I must even earn the privilege to grow up in a first world country. I feel I forget these privileges a lot of the time, and it gives a negative outlook a lot of the time.

Which is where the idea of a tattoo was born. Something to guide me through and remind me of that philosophy, and something that'll be relevant to the day I die. Of a much lesser reason, I feel it relevant that it highlights my love of film (music and film are my two treasured things in life) and that SPR remains one of my if not my favourite film of all. I was thinking of having the words tattooed on my right wrist, simply "Earn this." (unsure about the full stop). I feel it'll be small enough to hide with a watch or something in case of job concerns. The font however is the hardest part. I was thinking something like typewriter font, to fit the movie and screenplay font, and gives it a very neutral, serious and unstylised tone. Still, I'm very unsure of it, which is why I'd love some suggestions from you guys. If you think the idea (hah, or even the philosophy) sucks too, please feel free to elaborate on it or what not, I won't be offended. I know it does seem fairly pretentious. It isn't final, and I'll definitely mull over it for a few months more.

 

[Unfocused]

Comic Sans.

edit: that's a joke BTW.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

You're supposed to get the tattoo after you've gotten through the rough spot. You know, the portrait of Jesus on your bicep or your chest-sized likeness of Vishnu or whatever else.

If you have to ask hl2.net, you don't need it permanently engraved in your skin. Give it some damn time, even if you're tired of it. The Tattoo itself won't change anything in your life besides a few arbitrary droll minutes.

 

[Zephos]

Haha, I suppose I spent too much time explaining the rough spot. That isn't too much of my concern, and it's not so much I need the tattoo to get me through that exactly. It's just something to have there in terms of a reminder of an outlook on life. I see where you are coming from, and for sure, I am giving it some time.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I'm still your old self. **** tattoos.

 

[MJ12]

Adobe Caslon is a great, clean font. Also Helvetica if you can't make up your mind/or want a san-serif font. Open up Illustrator or Photoshop, create a textbox and try a few different fonts. Don't do any font that isn't classic or timeless. Also take into consideration if you want it all lowercase, all caps, small caps, or just regular.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Wingdings.

 

[Krynn72]

Big Macca. ****in' scifi.

 

[JUL3]

Have it tattooed above your crotch with an arrow pointing down, in Arial Black.

Like this:

 

[Pulse]

Have it tattooed above your crotch with an arrow pointing down, in Arial Black.

Like this:

Fund it.

 

[Stylo]

It's good that you're planning on spending time deliberating over it but other people's opinions should matter less about what the tat will be.

Your main concern should be "Okay, I'm getting a tattoo, this shit is permanent, am I gonna look at this in a few years and think: 'Christ, what was I doing?' and regret and hate it."

That's the most common problem really. You've gotta pick something that you personally are happy with and that you know you'll be happy with in the future. If it's well designed and it's something that has personal meaning to you (as long as that meaning won't get lost as you move on in life) then go for it.

I have 2 tattoos down each arm and I spent ages picking them out and discussing them with the tattoo artist. I'm planning on getting more but these 2 I picked because they didn't have any specific meaning. Patterns and lines that I found really attractive and that will never lose meaning to me as they have none. Purely aesthetic and artistic.

Future ones may have some significant meaning but only meanings that I'll definitely hold true on reflection. Also, don't go somewhere cheap and nasty. If you have to pay more to get a tattoo done in a clean, safe and reputable studio then do it. Shittily done tattoos can end up costing you more to get re-done / covered up and if you go somewhere where they don't follow health and safety to the letter than you will probably deserve the outcome. Choose your venue wisely too.

 

[Kitfox]

I did this exact same thing 4 years ago. I was on summer break from university working for a programming company away from home. For the most part of my life until then I lived a sheltered life never leaving my comfort zone, constantly feeling depressed about the way my life was turning out (I was 21 at the time). I took many philosophy courses during my years at university and was getting sick of constantly mulling over life, and trying figuring out who I was.

The idea of a tattoo terrified me (and was taboo in my family) but that was one thing I knew I needed to do if I wanted to change my self for the better. I needed something permanent, something significant to remind me that there is more to me then what people see on the outside (and that they don't have to know it), that I could do the unexpected and terrifying, and that the empowerment of that would last forever. I also knew that it need to be incomplete so that in the future if it needed to be modify and adjust to a new philosophy based on my life experiences it could. So I sat with my note book during my off hours at work trying to invest as much philosophy into that will have significance for the rest of my life.

I ended up drawing a pair of intricate slightly tribal wings(to signify life's complexity, but enforcing the idea that I can rise above all hardships) divided by and empty space (for future improvements and adjustments). The details composing the wings can also be interpreted as eyes that represent the ability to be a good judge of character and seek out the truth in people and life. And I had it tattooed on my right upper shoulder like a military insignia (apparently this is a good place to get a tattoo as it does not sag or get distorted with age). The tattoo was to be out of view and only for me to see as I got it for me and me alone (and any chicks that had the luxury of seeing me naked so i could tell them "Baby if you fall I'll catch you" (lol i'm so deep)).

Anyways the important part is too put a lot of thought into it and do it for your self and no one else and not to make any hasty decisions. I got the tattoo on my own with no support and I told no one close to me about it, it enriched the experience quite a bit and gave it more meaning (I'll be honest I was totally terrified when I got it).

I do not regret getting it although over time I have gotten use to it and hardly notice that its there when I look in the mirror. But as lame as it sounds when life gets me down or I'm faced with tough situation it does feel like it helps enforce my understanding of world and how to live in it.

 

[morgs]

I always love it when people say, "Think about how it'll look when you're old, and it's all saggy!"

Haha, like you're not going to look bad anyway.

 

[Maestro]

I always love it when people say, "Think about how it'll look when you're old, and it's all saggy!"

Haha, like you're not going to look bad anyway.

Long as it isn't a tramp stamp this is pretty true. Tramp stamps age worse than anything else people do to their bodies, including Prince Alberts and head-spikes.

 

[Stylo]

I always love it when people say, "Think about how it'll look when you're old, and it's all saggy!"

Haha, like you're not going to look bad anyway.

Yeah, live while you're alive. I'd rather have my tattoos and they look saggy when I'm older than be an old, frail man wondering what it would've been like to have had them while I was still young. Then I shit my pants and die, unhappy and alone.

 

[Unfocused]

Then I shit my pants and die, unhappy and alone.

...just because I did not get that tattoo when I had the chance.

 

[Stylo]

...just because I did not get that tattoo when I had the chance.

Exactly. Do you want to die depressed and solitary in a pool of your own faeces? I thought not.